India woke up on February 21, 2025, to the reports of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid in a house near Chandigarh. The raid was related to Canada’s history’s largest gold robbery, with authorities raiding 32-year-old Simran Preet Panesar.
Panesar is reportedly connected to the $20 million gold heist that took place at Toronto Pearson Airport in April 2023. The raid followed an Indian Express investigation that exposed Panesar had been staying in Mohali, dodging Canadian authorities.
The ED’s raid was centered on interrogating Panesar, who is suspected of having a central role in Canada’s biggest gold robbery, where 6,600 bars of gold and $2.5 million in foreign exchange were robbed.
Involvement of Panesar
The stolen goods, originally destined for a Canadian bank, were pilfered with fake documents. Panesar, who was working at Air Canada, had the requisite access to manipulate the system and monitor the arrival of the gold. The authorities think he masterminded the robbery by scanning the Air Canada Cargo database and arranging for the container with the gold to be taken away.
Even though the police suspected him, Panesar quit his job shortly after the theft and went missing. The authorities found out that Panesar was one of the insiders involved in the robbery, together with Parampal Sidhu, another Air Canada staff.
Who are the Other People Involved in the Heist?
The two men assisted in making the theft a possibility. Besides Panesar and Sidhu, other gold heist accomplices were the truck driver, Durante King-McLean, and a few others, including Archit Grover, who was the owner of the trucking company used in the theft. It has been close to two years since the offense was committed, and only a fraction of the stolen items has been recovered so far, including one kilogram of gold worth $89,000 and around $434,000 in cash.
Officials continue to solicit Panesar’s surrender, and he has reported he is planning his eventual turning himself in to Canadian officials on the assumption that the Canadian legal system will vindicate him from all charges.